5>8 
t 
Linnaeus places this plant in the clafs Monoecia, though he tells 
lis that Jacquin defcribes it as dioecious, and we have always feen 
it fo in this country ; nor have we ever found it to bear black ber- 
ries. Some doubt may alfo arife whether it be properly referred to 
the order Syngenefia, as the anthers upon the different filaments do 
a 
not unite ; a circumftance which we have endeavoured to reprefent 
in a feparate difplay of the flower. 
Frefh Bryony root, taken up in the beginning of fpring, abounds 
with a thin milky juice: if the upper part of the root be bared of 
earth, and the top cut over tranfverfely, the juice continues to rife 
gradually to the furface, in notable quantity, for two or three days 
fuccefTively, and may be collected by forming a cavity in the middle 
to receive it. Both the root in fubftance, and the juice, have a dif- 
agreeable fmell, and a naufeous bitter biting tafte : applied for fome 
time to the fkin, they inflame or even veficate the part. On drying 
the one, or inlpiflating the other, they lofe moft of their acrimony, 
and nearly the whole of their ill fcent. In fummer, the root proves 
much lefs juicy and weaker both in fmell and tafte." a 
Bergius " ftates the virtues of this root to be purgans, hydragoga, 
emmenagoga, diuretica ; recent, rad. fubemetica ; and recommends it 
in dropfy and aflhma. 
This powerful and irritating cathartic, though now feldom prefcribed 
by phyficians, is faid to be of great efficacy in evacuating ferous hu- 
mours, and has been chiefly employed in hydropical diforders. c In- 
ftances of its good effects in other chronic diieafes are alfo mentioned, 
as afthma, mania/ and epilepfy. e In fmall dofes it is reported to 
operate as a diuretic, and to be refolvent and deobftruent : given in 
powder, from a fcruple to a dram, it proves ftrongly purgative ; 
and the juice, which iffues fpontaneoufly in dofes of a fpoonful or 
more, has fimilar effects, but is more gentle in its operation. An 
extract, prepared by water, a£ts more mildly, and with greater fafety, 
than the root in fubftance, and may be given from half a dram to a 
dram. Externally the frefh root has been employed in cataplafms, 
as a refolvent and difcutient ; alfo in ifchiadic and other rheumatic 
affections. 
Lewis, M. M. p. 165. b Mat. Med. p. 786. 
See Burcgraf, Lexicon Med. p. 17 10. where he gives a particular account of a 
fuccefsful method of employing this root. d Sydenham, Procefs. integr. in op, p. 626. 
Arnoldm De Villa Nova. Brev. praft. L. i.e. 22 v ReuJJher, Curat, fcf Obferv. p. 158. 
LIGUSTICUM LEVISTICUM. 
